From The Vault: The Delgados

Let's turn the clock back to 2003. I've just gotten to Oberlin, a nice, moderately hipster liberal arts college, and everything about my persona and taste is acclimatizing. My clothes are still a little bit on the baggy, clueless side, and my hair is just trying to grow out at all costs. This music thing, however, I think I am starting to get the hang of. I read Pitchfork Media sometimes to try to find more cool bands to like, and occasionally I just start browsing through their archived reviews (sorted only by first letter), trying to happen across something obscure but worthwhile. One day, browsing through the letter D, I come across their review for an album called Hate by The Delgados. This happens to be my (one and only, at the time) ex-girlfriend's last name, so I arbitrarily click on it. As I read through the review, my intrigue only grows. An 8.1 is one of the highest ratings I'd seen on this particularly snobby website, and the writer pitches over and over again how epic and yet bleak the album was. I play a hunch and order Hate from Amazon, and a few days later it shows up.

At this point, I'm going to skip ahead. Over the remainder of my freshman year, Hate spent more time in my combo CD-player and tape deck stereo system than any other album, excepting OK Computer (only my favorite album of all time). I played it falling asleep, doing homework, on other people's laptops in dorm lounges and in the background of heart-to-heart talks about love, life and other deathly serious matters. When they came on tour through Cleveland, I went to a girl who had stolen my heart and slid the CD under her dorm room door  with a sticky note telling her to listen to tracks 5, 8, 9 and 10. Two weeks later we rode into the city together and saw a kick-ass show at the Grog Shop. Disclaimer: Despite this excellent opportunity, I failed to capitalize and never got anywhere with said girl. In related news, I was still a pretty big dork with no moves to speak of. The Delgados, on the other hand, have a couple of really good moves. Notably, these include male-female vocals much like the modern-day phenoms The XX, swooning orchestration lifted from Brit-poppers such as The Verve, and a rhythm section that gallops along like a steel-shod war charger. For your listening pleasure, here are the aforementioned tracks 5, 8, 9 and 10...

The Delgados - Coming In From The Cold

The Delgados - All Rise

The Delgados - Never Look At The Sun

The Delgados - If This Is A Plan

Amanda's Best of the Decade: #100-91

Wrangling my music collection and seven years of "Best of" playlists into a limited hierarchy has been an even greater challenge than I imagined. First off, it's important to distinguish between a "Best Songs of the Decade" list and one that represents my favorite songs from the same period. Ideally, there is at least 75% overlap between these two sets of selections. Also, I was fifteen when the decade began, so a lot of formative, taste-making shit went down in my Aughts. Most notably, I learned to love electronica and female vocalists. In the end, my toils produced these one hundred, unscientifically chosen tunes: a combination of perceived rate of iTunes skippage, autobiographical significance , cultural importance, and musical quality (oh yeah, that). So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen:

#100

The Fear - Lily Allen

Album: It's Not Me It's You

Year: 2009

I've never found Lily Allen to particularly subversive but she does have a gift for cultural commentary that's charmingly reminiscent of slightly mean jokes between friends. 'The Fear' is no exception, being both bitingly insightful about and symptomatic of contemporary values. The softcore pop intro prepares us for a throwaway love song on any chart-topper's album but becomes quickly plaintive, insistent and rife with existential angst. Allen's girlish, deadpan delivery pulls it off beautifully.

#99

Cannons at the Courthouse - Devin Davis

Album: Lonely People of the World, Unite!

Year: 2005

Some seriously rollicking power pop from the midsection of the US. Davis fuses brashes guitar sounds, clever, exuberant production, punchy drum work and imaginative lyrics in this metamorphic piece of brilliance. I never get over how he casts the insignificant backgrounds of grander dreamscapes with extras, edits and fill-ins.

#98

Come into My World - Kylie

Minogue

Album: Fever

Year: 2001

Our first page from the Amanda Dance Primer. I first heard this song at a college party and went into a sort of trance while dancing to it--a novel experience for a girl who cut her dance floor teeth on Top 40 rap and R&B. I prefer this song to its album counterpart, 'Can't Get You Out of My Head' for its sense of dreamy, hypnotic motion. By turns choppy and swooning, it's a masterful example of mainstream dance pop from the queen of the genre.

#97

Gray or Blue - Jaymay

Album: Autumn Fallin'

Year: 2008

The simple, sweet essence of frustrated affection set to island-style strumming, childlike xylophone and Jaymay's (New York's Jamie Seerman) empathetic vocals. Unrequited love songs by singer-songwriters are at their best when either completely steeped in, or completely divorced from the dramatic banality that creates them and this is of the latter variety.

#96

Midsummer Night Blues - Waldeck

Album: Ballroom Stories

Year: 2007

I love me some jazz clarinet, alright? Most people do not become copyright lawyers and then go on to make incredibly sexy, jazzy trip-hop albums but then, most people are not Austria's Klaus Waldeck. Tickled ivories, swooning clarinet, retro vocals, a 'Summertime' sample and a beat existing somewhere between funk, reggae and swingtime: this song is luscious.

#95

Time to Pretend - MGMT

Album:

Oracular Spectacular

Year: 2007

Discussing this song shortly after its release, I used the phrase "it's a bit too...self-consciously anthemic, don't you think?" to express my skepticism. I know, I'm an asshole. And though I still think it's too self-conscious but its throbbing, distorted bravado is thoroughly under my skin. Every time I hear it, I want to be tongue-in-cheek about my jaded, glamorous, rock star life.

#94

Monument (Anna Oxygen Remix) - Mirah

Album: Joyride: Remixes

Year: 2006

One of the hallmarks of good dance music has always been the way it toys with expectation and delivery. In order to get people dancing, you have to essentially pander to baser instincts and in order to keep people dancing, you have to find a way to suspend that energy, eventually not dropping the beat they've come to expect. While not strictly speaking a dance tune, this remix by Anna Oxygen includes the most fantastic bit of denied expectation I've ever come across. At exactly 00:34, just after the intro has turned edgy, we hear an inhale and the smallest catch of a throat, the sound of the thought of the first line being born. And then nothing. And then the beat drops.

#93

The Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake - Sufjan Stevens

Album: The Avalanche: Outtakes & Extras from the Illinois Album

Year: 2006

I have long had mixed feelings about the Sujan Stevens aesthetic. It's just always seemed gimmicky and superficial to me--too many carefully researched historical facts and anecdotes, too much orchestration and not enough soul. This little beauty of a throwaway track is the opposite of all that. It would have no place in a proper album but situated amongst the numerous outtakes from Illinois (can't imagine that Mr. Stevens is ever going to get through all 50 if he has this much to say about just one Midwestern state) it is a an oasis of simple, evocative perfection.

#92

The Drinker - The Phoenix Foundation

Album: Horsepower (US Release)

Year: 2004

Kiwi six-piece the Phoenix Foundation haven't gotten much attention this far above the equator aside from their contributions to the soundtrack for 2007 film Eagle vs. Shark, but this tremulous, sixties-steeped gem deserves more than a few listens. Trembling like any good Zombies track, 'The Drinker' evokes a garbled sense of longing and cowboy loneliness--think a deserted Western landscape miles under the ocean. The line "was the sort of night you feel like breakin out/or going out to vandalize the streets/but I stayed at this masquerade and had another drink" is the song's undeniable climax; it's surprising vehemence and tragic resignation get me every time.

#91

What's a Girl to Do? - Bat for Lashes

Album: Fur & Gold

Year: 2006

Natasha Khan makes a wicked Nancy Sinatra for our time, with a short layover at Stevie Nix. Digging those tribal "Be My Baby" drums. Love the spoken verses à la...every kitschy girl group of the 60's. Desperate, crying male romantic figure? Check. With its wailed chorus and theatrical portrayal of love gone off, 'What's a Girl to Do?" makes for a dark, mystical take on a set of already successful pop tropes.

Aaron's Best of the Decade: #100-91

The aughts (2000-2009) were a decade of amazing musical development. I could wax poetic for pages about the convergences and divergences of genres, the rise of the internet as a tool for spreading music and the adoption of indie music by the mainstream, but I'd rather get straight to the good stuff. Amanda and I have distilled a decade with significant life importance for us (ages 15-25) into the 100 tracks each of us consider essential listening. We'll post ten tracks (each) at a time until we reach #50, at which point we'll slow down to five at a time to discuss each at further length, concluding with an individual track-by-track countdown of our five chart-toppers. Here goes:

Aaron

#100
Vampire Weekend - The Kids Don't Stand A Chance
Album: Vampire Weekend
Year: 2008


Vampire Weekend's self-titled debut album copped the Paul Simon Afro-pop sound something fierce and maintained a pleasant upbeat vibe throughout. After hearing it all hundreds of times, the standout track is the one that takes the road less traveled - "The Kids Don't Stand A Chance" is minimalist on an album that otherwise ignores the concept, tracing the spare elements of a gorgeous melody and topped by a surprisingly restrained Ezra Koenig.

#99
Rilo Kiley - Portions for Foxes
Album: More Adventurous
Year: 2004

Rilo Kiley's songwriting is always a good time, but their individual tracks only go as far as frontwoman Jenny Lewis takes them. On "Portions for Foxes" she spins a tale of sexual frustration, fraught with tension and regret. She makes it eminently clear that she is bad news, while the track is anything but...

#98
Simian Mobile Disco - I Believe
Album: Attack Decay Sustain Release
Year: 2007

Simian Mobile Disco aren't exactly the picture of consistency or class, but they attain their moment of perfection on "I Believe", melding the haunting synths of The Knife with the icy R&B of Junior Boys to devastating effect.

#97
Passion Pit - Moth's Wings
Album: Manners
Year: 2009

Passion Pit will always be divisive and intriguing because of his falsetto, and I was first drawn to the high-pitched histrionics of "Sleepyhead." After prodding and repeated plays by my roommate and my girlfriend, I've acquiesced - the melodramatic sparkle of "Moth's Wings" is the bee's knees.

#96
Radiohead - A Wolf At The Door
Album: Hail To The Thief
Year: 2003

Expectations were crushingly high for Radiohead in 2003 after the trio of OK Computer, Kid A and cast-offs album Amnesiac positioned them as simultaneously the most critically acclaimed rock band and electronic act on the planet. "A Wolf At The Door" called to mind their old-school cyclical guitar riffs paired with the eerie tone and pacing of their electronic masterpieces.

#95
The Long Winters - Cinnamon
Album: When I Pretend To Fall
Year: 2003

Seattle's own Long Winters write punchy, off-kilter pop with equal parts joy and regret. On "Cinammon", John Roderick distilled both into a tune that is so damn catchy they should have just sold out and mass-marketed themselves as pre-teen mixtape fodder.

#94
Kanye West - Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix f/Jay-Z)
Album: Late Registration
Year: 2005

Kanye and Jay-Z act out the essential conflict of hip-hop, with Kanye attempting a socially conscious narrative of his people in Africa and the exploitative diamond mines while Jay-Z pops up for a classic guest verse,  rapping his way cleverly around the theme of diamonds without addressing any sort of meaning or responsibility. All that and a James Bond hook...

#93
Guided By Voices - Everywhere With Helicopter
Album: Universal Truths and Cycles
Year: 2002

Dayton, Ohio's own Guided by Voices rocked right through the 90's on Robert Pollard's lo-fi, short fuzz-pop gems, and entered the new decade eager to produce more of the same. "Everywhere with Helicopter" provides two and a half minutes of guitar aerobics with urgent vocals and a wonderful tension-ripping yelp at the 1:06 mark.

#92
Junior Boys - Teach Me How To Fight
Album: Last Exit

Year: 2004

Critically acclaimed from the get-go, Junior Boys' appeal slowly became apparent to me. "Teach Me How To Fight" hits none of the usual peppy benchmarks for an electronic piece and takes forever to get going, but the build from soft verses to emotional (but still soft) chorus somehow feels anthemic when given proper attention.

#91
Jim White - Static On The Radio
Album: Drill A Hole In That Substrate And Tell Me What You See

Year: 2004

"Static On The Radio" is an overlooked gem of the singer-songwriter genre. A wiggly little melody and wistful atmospherics provide the perfect envelope for Jim White's vividly poetic verses and Aimee Mann's sublime bridge and chorus.

Genealogy of a Remix: Blue Scholars - New People (Empire Remix)

Inspired by a grooving new remix built from two excellent sources and a hot new solo track from a related artist, this post will take a page from Amanda's book and trace the genealogy of "New People (Empire Remix)" to its source material and a couple degrees beyond that, eventually linking it to "Circus Hounds (Superfly Gettin High)".

The remix that spawned this post, Seattle hip-hop frontrunners Blue Scholars take "New People" from their recent Oof! EP and mix the riff from the feel-good 2008 classic "Walking on a Dream" by Empire of the Sun into a funky backbone.

Blue Scholars - New People {Empire Remix}

One half of the remix, "Walking on a Dream" is an instant classic MGMT/Phoenix style electro-pop piece emerging from Australians Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore all the way back in summer 2008.

Empire of the Sun - Walking On A Dream

Taking it one more step back, Luke Steele of Empire of the Sun made his name fronting Down Under group The Sleepy Jackson in the earlier half of the decade. From the 2003 album Lovers, here is standout psych-pop track "Good Dancers" (given heavy airplay by Seattle indie radio station KEXP back in the day).

The Sleepy Jackson - Good Dancers

The other half of the featured remix, the Blue Scholars dropped these lyrics originally on this track from the Oof! Ep, recorded in MC Geologic's native Hawaii in 2009.

Blue Scholars - New People

Blue Scholars (composed of an MC, Geologic and a DJ, Sabzi) cemented their reputation as hip hop future stars on 2004 release Blue Scholars - check standout tracks "Blink" (the politically charged one) and "The Inkwell" (the pretty, Northwest-representing one).

Blue Scholars - Blink
Blue Scholars - The Inkwell

Common Market is another big name in contemporary Seattle hip hop, consisting of MC RA Scion paired with DJ Sabzi from the Blue Scholars. Here, Common Market remixes their track "Every Last One" with help on the mic from MC Geologic of Blue Scholars and fellow Seattle rapper Gabriel Teodros (of Abyssinian Creole). The three groups currently run the co-op Seattle label MASSLINE - stay tuned for future releases.

Common Market - Every Last One (Cornerstone Remix f/Geologic of Blue Scholars and Gabriel Teodros)

RA Scion (the MC from Common Market) has recorded an album with Everett-based beatmaker MTK that is just now making the rounds, named after RA Scion's alter ego Victor Shade. Check brand new track "Circus Hounds (Superfly Gettin High)" to hear their sound and the end point of today's arcing trajectory.

RA Scion - Circus Hounds (Superfly Gettin High)

New Music Monday!

Liam Neeson turns slowly, dramatically, as the harsh light from the window behind the throne silhouettes him. His long, godly beard comes into view, pinned down to his armor (replete with CGI sparkles). His mouth moves, and from it the immortal syllables emerge: RELEASE THE NEW MUSIC (Monday)! 

The beat is movin, just shuckin and jivin, with this unintelligible bass-y vocodered vocal sample, and here comes the melody line, all over the place in a good way, and OH MY GOD Big Boi is rapping over this beat and he is BACK y'all. Keep your ears to the streets for Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty (currently due 7/6/2010) because this is a smokin hot dance jam with classic Outkast vocals and you can't help but cut a rug to this shutterbug. Play it loud and for the love of god with a subwoofer.

Big Boi - Shutterbug

LCD Soundsystem drop another song from the upcoming This Is Happening, more in line with previous work than party piece "Drunk Girls" and channeling a bit of Bowie if you ask me.

LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change

Canadians Stars (of the Broken Social Scene collective) nailed their soft, swooping sound two albums ago with Set Yourself On Fire but failed to suck me in with their last full-length (In Our Bedroom After The War). "Fixed" is the first advance track from the upcoming The Five Ghosts (due out 6/22), and while it's not a lighter-raising anthem, it promises that at the very least they will be doing some solid song-writing in their comfort zone.

Stars - Fixed

GROUP are young and under the radar, but very talented. "Colours" is the LA quintet's first song to see daylight and bodes well for them - cop this wonderful piece (with snatches of Isaac Brock-like vocals and soaring hooks and bridges) and be the first on your block to champion these future stars.

GROUP - Colors

I fear I'm somehow venturing into co-writer Amanda's territory here, as this music feels like it fits some of her check-boxes (low-profile, big hooks, 'ebullient' sound, British), but I can only speak for myself as far as opinions on Wolf Gang. He is good. Very good. The below pair of singles (released in second half 2009 and early 2010) are well-written, busy, and yes, ebullient, with an ear-candy sticky underside that demands repeat plays.

Wolf Gang - Pieces of You
Wolf Gang - The King and All His Men

Poet and American treasure Gil Scott-Heron (who we analyzed extensively in my Contemporary American Poetry class in undergrad) is back. He sounds weary and defeated here, and Nas joins him in a condemnation of New York's exhausting pace and lifestyle over a beat that clicks along snappily.

Gil Scott Heron - New York Is Killing Me (remix f/Nas)

The David Byrne (of Talking Heads) and Fatboy Slim collaborative album, Here Lies Love is out and it's... interesting. I'm not inclined to give it a particularly strong recommendation, but take a listen below to hear one of the more fun patches, featuring a personal favorite - trip-hop holdover vocalist Roisin Murphy.

David Byrne and Fatboy Slim - Don't You Agree (f/Roisin Murphy)

Oh Robyn. After lending your excellent vocals to Royksopp's "The Girl and the Robot" last year, it is so coldly, calculatingly logical of you to write song called "Fembot." On the plus side, it's a totally robo-funky party jam with slightly messy feminist undertones, boding well for her upcoming Body Talk Pt. 1.

Robyn - Fembot


THROWAWAY SYNTH-POP OF THE WEEK

I am fairly confident that Hey Champ read Daydream Station, discovered that I sometimes feature a Throwaway Synth-Pop act or song, and decided to form a band to write music for the express purpose of filling that slot. True or not, they certainly fit the bill - low-profile act drops a couple of free preview tracks to attempt to build blog hype, and this is round-peg-in-a-round-hole synth-pop. Catchy melodies, slightly icy synths, pretty but unremarkable vocals, completely lacking a sense of adventure in their songwriting. Wayyy too catchy for anyone's good, follow the links for free downloads.

Hey Champ - Cold Dust Girl
Hey Champ - Neverest

Remix Roundup

Kids, I confess I had big ambitions this week. I was envisioning a sort of "six degrees of remix roundup" post - everything was going to come full circle and transition beautifully. Until I got distracted by the ensuing awesome tracks and threw structure to the wind. Brits abound as usual. I'd apologize if they didn't deserve every word of praise I'm dishing out this week.

This one has been ALL OVER the blogosphere recently. And for good reason. Ted & Francis work magic on the tracks they remix. They call their particular brand of electropop "tropical pop" and unlike most self-assigned DJ genres, they're spot on, as this track demonstrates. The song fades in over crashing waves and breaks down over a sonic landscape that remind me of a beach volleyball game. Doesn't hurt that the original (get it here), by Irishmen Two Door Cinema Club - who you'd have to be living under a rock to escape from these days - is a catchy bit of delicious fluff, well turned out by these Aussies. Download now and play until summer's end.

Something Good Can Work (Ted & Francis Remix) - Two Door Cinema Club

A fantastic concoction of spooky, childlike vocal samples, tribal drums and Tobi O'Kandi's hammerlike, Krautrock-tinged vocals. Get out your Ouija boards and prepare to be creeped out like a giggling schoolgirl.

Dead Disco Dancer (The Golden Filter Remix) - O Children

Possessing enough slow motion cool for any cinematic glamour shot, this one comes to us from Scotland via London. The Aliens are comprised of several members of The Beta Band, which comes as no surprise if you've heard the psychedelic original. The remix is a stretched out cruise through rolling fields of golden wheat, and the 1970s. It's perfectly centered and justifies every second of its nearly ten minute playing time.

The Sunlamp Show (Disco Bloodbath Remix) - The Aliens

Your average Clock Opera song sounds like a perpetual joyous climax, so it's a delight to see him turn his talents to the darker flavor of the Golden Filter's single "Hide Me." This take is considerably more organic than its source material. There's a distinctly tactile quality to the twinkling backdrop (is that a hammered dulcimer I hear?) and the whole package creates a beautiful meld with Penelope Trappes' ethereal vocals.

Hide Me (Clock Opera Remix) - The Golden Filter

The Plastiscines: French kiddies (They were on Gossip Girl once: embarrassing). Les Petits Pilous: French grown-ups. This song: For all the times you just need a pants-shittingly loud banger.

Loser (Les Petits Pilous Remix) - The Plastiscines

Contrary to what it says below, This Post By Amanda.

New Music Monday!

And on the eighth (first?) day, God said "Let There Be New Music Monday." Or something like that. I find it unlikely that God spoke English, but it seems probable that he endorsed the creation and promotion of interesting music. Children of Adam, take the words below as scripture and reap what I have sown...

Former Seattlites Band of Horses are readying the Infinite Arms LP for  a May 18 release date. First available track "Compliments" sounds like you'd expect - they haven't shaken up their sound much, but it's not a bad start to what could be a very pleasant album.

Band of Horses - Compliments

Sage Francis is damn interesting, all of the time (a strong candidate for my favorite emcee). He writes with more intellect and emotion than you'd think possible while maintaining impressive rhyme schemes, and has penned essential screed after screed on love, life, politics and art. "Slow Man" is a bit of a change for him - not completely out of character, but it sounds to me like he is really channeling the blues here. He abandons some of his verbal acrobatics as a sing-songy tone enters his flow, pondering the pace of his life. When the album, Li(f)e, drops on May 11, you can bet I'll parse every lyric carefully, combing for bits of genius, and attend his Seattle show in early June.

Sage Francis - Slow Man

The blues-rock traditionalists drop another (get the first one here) track from their upcoming Brothers LP (due out May 18). "Next Girl" sports a hefty dose of reverb and, when the vocals kick in at 0:38, a Jimi Hendrix-mimicking vocal style that suits their guitar swagger.

The Black Keys - Next Girl

LCD Soundsystem wowed me with last release Sound of Silver, one of my favorite albums of 2007 peaking with one of my favorite tracks of all time (stay tuned for our Top 100 Tracks of the Decade countdown to find out which one). My hopes are high for This is Happening (due out May 18), but "Drunk Girls" sounds like a throwaway party song, certainly fun but not as gorgeous as when mastermind James Murphy slows it down and lets his songs build organically.

LCD Soundsystem - Drunk Girls

Another pair of tracks from Reflection Eternal, the all-star duo of Talib Kweli and DJ Hi-Tek. Revolutions Per Minute is currently projected to drop on May 11, and "Back Again" sports their playful old-school vibe while "Strangers" matches Talib against Bun B with both adopting a slurred yet quick-firing Southern flow. Get previously linked tracks here and here.

Reflection Eternal (Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek) - Back Again

Reflection Eternal (Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek) - Strangers (f/Bun B)

Unbeknownst to me, CocoRosie released three albums this decade as a pair of American sisters recording in Paris. For their newest, Grey Oceans (due out May 11), the girls have moved to iconic Northwest label Sub Pop Records, but maintain their (other)worldly sound. While not a direct comparison, the closest reference I can give you for the two tracks below is Bjork, due to the sisters' siren calls, simultaneously fragile and overpowering, and their slow-paced, rhythmically adventurous songwriting style.

CocoRosie - Smokey Taboo

CocoRosie - Lemonade

Tegan and Sara have put out a digital-only album consisting of 17 different artists remixing the same song, their very own track "Alligator." Other artists include Passion Pit, Four Tet, Dave Sitek (of TV on the Radio) and Ra Ra Riot (one half of Discovery). Toro y Moi treats it like one of his own tracks, giving it a glossy synth covering that comes and goes like clouds allowing you a peek at the sun and then storming back across the sky once again.

Tegan and Sara - Alligator (Toro y Moi Remix)